The Significance of Academic Freedom in Education and Society
Academic freedom is defined as the ability for both staff and students to engage in intellectual conversations without fear of retaliation or censorship. Essentially meaning that both parties can challenge the others’ views without imposing deterrent effects on those views. This means that intellectual conversations can be furthered in the absence of being punished for an expressed opinion. For many years academic freedom has been a talking point whilst discussing higher education. This freedom is used frequently in the aspect of university because it not only propels conversations onward, but it allows students to feel safe about voicing their opinions in the likes of their newly obtained knowledge. For example, a student and a professor who have differing opinions about the evolution of man are allowed to voice their arguments and beliefs while remaining civil and leaving hate speech out of it. In addition to this definition, academic freedom also means that those employed through a university and those students enrolled through the university are allowed to do research on topics of their choosing and are able to formulate their own thesis; as long as it is understood that this does not mean that this research cannot be challenged.
While it is important to understand what academic freedom covers, it is of equally importance to comprehend what is left out. This freedom in no way entails or gives permission to any person the excuse to intimidate, harass, or threaten anyone in relation to their views (Nelson, 2010). However, this has been exampled before in the past. On November 1, 2016 two students from the University of Wisconsin dressed up as Barack Obama and Donald Trump with the Trump costume holding a noose around Obama while attending a football game. The ‘University of Wisconsin- Madison Black and African American Alumni” wrote a letter stating, “To be clear, we honor that free speech is a fundamental entitlement in our country,” the letter states. “As such, there is an understandable rationale for permitting someone into a stadium despite wearing offensive attire. However, reasonable minds would agree that what occurred at Camp Randall was not protected speech. Rather, the costume incited race-based hatred by invoking lynching symbols, historically understood as a racist hate crime. As a result, the official response was in error. We are concerned that our alma mater has not taken reasonable steps to adequately train and publicize that the university is no place for a racially hostile environment.” (New, 2016) This incident went against the principles of free speech within academic freedom, but many universities are struggle with creating clear boundaries that explicate this type of freedom. However it is crucial that we continue to encourage universities to take action and educate its students on what their academic freedoms entail.
Collective Bargaining in Higher Education
When a staff member is going through the process of being hired by a university or college, potentially getting a raise, and/or gaining tenure this person and administrators sit down as equals to negotiate the faculty member’s terms of employment. This process is known as a collective bargaining agreement. This agreement normally results in a legally binding agreement that was collectively bargained on to come to terms that both parties are agreeable to.
In higher education, unlike many other workplaces, majority of the employees’ peers have gone through similar, rigorous schooling in order to attain their current positions and therefore, should be treated as equals. The rules that surround the collective bargaining process ensure that both parties have an open dialogue with one another and that all voices are heard no matter how long it takes.
Collective bargaining is primarily used for four basic reasons; to strengthen shared governance, to get clearly defined conditions of employment, to achieve a negotiated agreement that is stable and legally binding, or to increase legislative advocacy. This process is executed by one side presenting their side through various proposals, while the other side counters these proposals until an agreement can be decided on. If at any point the situation becomes confrontational, both sides of the debate are allowed to ask for a mediator in order to reset the conversation. Collective bargaining ensures that the employees’ voices are heard and proves to be an effective extension of academic freedom for staff. This method demonstrates the university’s ability to value their employees’ needs and concerns especially in regards to their employment.
Students’ Rights within Contract
Beginning a new chapter of life is always a terrifying process for anyone to indulge in. For college students this process is intensified. Starting college has the potential of being one of the most stressful times in a young person’s life. Even before the actual chapter begins, there is an overwhelming process that must be partaken in before college can begin. This process requires a plethora of paperwork to sort through; housing forms, financial aid forms, etc. While the student signs away at all of these contracts and secures all sorts of money to begin attending university they’re university is creating a contract to them as well. This contract includes rights to the student such as, the right to free speech, due process, autonomy, safety, privacy, and equality. (Tashman, 2017).
Students cannot be punished for stating their opinion on matters, even if no one else at the school feels the same way that they do. Schools are prohibited to discriminate against upon the basis of their color, race, or national origin. In addition to this undocumented children still allotted their right to an education within this country. Students with disabilities are awarded the same liberties as their non-disabled counterparts, including inclusion on field trips, academics, and extracurricular activities. Finally, those persons belonging to or associated with the LGBTQ community are not required to confirm this information to anyone by force. Their sexual preference is in no way allowed to hinder their pursuit of higher education (Tashman, 2017).
However, over the span of recent years schools have begun to include an enrollment contract for new students to sign. This form includes a number of policies and procedures, but one policy that is frequently spoken about is the gag clause. Essentially, the gag clause means that both current and former students are not allowed to discuss any similar complaints about the university to one another without fear of dismissal from the university. Higher educational systems see this as a way to cover themselves in case there were to be any unjust actions that may arise on campus (Habash & Shireman, 2018).
Legal Issues within Online Education
Online education is a fantastic alternative for those who may not be able to be in classrooms for hours on end. However, like traditional university there are rights and legal issues that are involved with this type of degree plan. These concerns are not only shared by the students who enroll, but also the professors that instruct these classes. The most frequent problems that occur are copyright problems, ownerships issues, and forms of harassment and/or defamation.
Copyright infringement is defined as, “The use of works protected by copyright law without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright.” This piracy is most commonly the issue amongst most online students, mainly because many are unaware they are even doing it. For example, an online professor records a lecture that is given on CNN and uploads it for his class to review and write an article on. While most instructors feel that this is fine as long as it is being used for educational purposes, this is when the law becomes a little complicated and “less defined”. In order to avoid piracy from happening it is advised that professors use the “fair use” guideline. Essentially, this means that if a professor were to reproduce something with the intent of doing so only to avoid paying for it this is not allowed.
The ownership issues that come about in online education settings are similar to those that occur with copyright problems. In order to avoid situations like these, permission should be secured from those whom own rights from the entity in which the user is trying to partake in. For example, if a guest speaker were to visit a class for a private lecture, and the instructor decided that he wanted to make a lecture for another class based on the lecture he heard; he would have to ask permission from the instructor. This permission would have be written so that if need be, this form of permission could be upheld in court. The permission should also include what specific part of the lecture the professor would ask for, what purpose the work serves in his hands, who is granting permission for access to the work, and both parties’ signatures.
Students and Faculty Disability Rights
For those students who have intellectual or physical disabilities, moving up into secondary schools can be challenging. Therefore many students with disabilities make the choice to continue their education in high education spaces; vocational schools, career schools, 2-4-year colleges, and universities. For those who pursue this option, it is crucial that they understand their rights and how they may come about in their journey through higher education.
These rights reserved for students with disabilities are made available through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was passed in 1990. This covers all students who are enrolled in a place of higher education, except for those universities and colleges that are ran through religious organizations. In fact, the ADA states, “No individual shall be discriminated against on the basis of disability in the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, or accommodations of any place of public accommodation by any person who owns, leases (or leases to), or operates a place of public accommodation”. If a person meets all the requirements necessary for admission, then this person cannot be denied acceptance based on this disability. Upon enrollment, students with disabilities are not even required to inform the school of their disability if they do not wish to. However, if an academic adjustment is something that is needed, the student will be asked to provide proof of documentation. After documentation is provided, the student will be given assistance through the university’s assets and programs. For example, adjustments include: sign language interpretation, recording devices, extended test-taking time, reducing course loads per semester, or early registration.
Suicide on a Campus Setting
The reality is, one in five college students have reported thoughts of suicide in the past year. That totals out to 20% of college students across the nation who have contemplated taking their own lives, with those who are in the minority groups, racially and through gender, reporting these statistics the most. Of these 20%, 9% of those students have reported attempting to end their own lives (Bauer-Wolf, 2018).
When a suicide occurs of the campus of a university, it leaves many uneasy and fluttered with questions. These are students that are on track to succeed in what goals they had set out for themselves. Cindy Liu, one of the researchers in this field, has stated that she believes the current generation is being “pulled in too many directions” and “expected to succeed in all of them”. Liu feels that there is an overall pressure to achieve higher success than other generations were believed to have strived for in the past.
The next step in attempting to fix this issue is by integrating efforts in order to ensure students have a safe space to speak on their issues and get help when needed. In today’s world, many places of higher education take science-based approaches to prevent suicide and use this science to promote campus-wide risk management efforts. One of these ways is by ensuring that the proper professionals are in place should a student seek help. Another is to ensure that students are aware of the signs of depression and those who may be contemplating suicide and know what to do should there need to be an intervention (Polychronis & Lake, 2018).
FERPA
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. FERPA gives two individuals power with the law, both eligible students and parents. Eligible students are students that have reached the age of 18 and attend a school beyond the high school level. Parents of the students who are not 18 years old at the time of enrollment are able to be included under the FERPA governed student. Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review the student's education records maintained by the school. They also have the right to request that a school or university correct records which they believe to be inaccurate or misleading. If the school decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student then has the right to place a statement with the record setting forth his or her view about the contested information.
Parents and eligible students have significant advantages with The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act; it still allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties. The following conditions like school officials with legitimate educational interest, other schools to which a student is transferring, specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes, appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student, and organizations conducting specific studies for or on behalf of the school. FERPA also has policies about notifying students about his or her grades. The only acceptable method to post grades publicly is to assign students in their class unique, confidential numbers or codes to post grades, and further, to ensure that such codes and posting are not alphabetic or in any defining or revealing order.
FERPA has been beneficial for student’s rights since 1974. Protecting them and setting up guidelines for professors and teachers across the United States of America. FERPA is a privilege that most students take for granted, but without these rights students have no way to protect their information from unwanted intrusive people.
